We are adding to this library at the rate of 13.5 hours a day. Almost everything is downloadable and embeddable.

Browsers

Browser

06/2012

11/2011

11/2010

11/2009

11/2008

IE

37.5

41.2

50.6

56

63

Firefox

19.8

23.2

25.52

27.5

27.73

Safari

17.3

5.6

13.1

10

5.66

Chrome

14.6

13.8

8.75

4.2

1.47

Android

7.5

Opera

0.69

0.7

0.9

1.02

1.08

IE is in decline, and IE6 is currently 3.25% of IE browser share.

Operating System

OS

06/2012

11/2011

11/2010

11/2009

11/2008

Windows

67.3

72

81

84.8

89.3

Mac

14.7

15.6

14.2

12.6

8.5

iOS

7.88

Android

7.79

3.6

0.3

0.02

0

iPhone

2.5

1.4

0.56

0.19

iPad

2.4

0.63

0

0

Linux

1.27

1.53

1.4

1.45

1.72

iPod

0.5

0.35

0.22

0.08

Mobile

The number of people visiting from mobile is high. 16% in fact.
Here is a breakdown of the top ten devices.

Device

%

Average
visit duration

Pages/visit

iPad

25.5

2:13

2.3

iPhone

21.0

1:52

1.7

not set

11.12

1:14

1.56

Samsung GT-I9100 Galaxy S II

6.85

0:54

1.43

Huawei U8150 Ideos

3.36

0.53

1.26

Samsung GT-S5570 Galaxy Mini

3.34

0:37

1.27

SonyEricsson LT15i Xperia Arc

3.1

1:00

1.51

iPod Touch

3.01

3:42

2.26

Samsung GT-S5830 Galaxy Ace

2.73

0:41

1.25

Motorola MB525 DEFY

2.73

0:48

1.42

Site Speed

We have shaved nearly a second off our Google site speed in the last 12 months, although we are still being hampered by having two CMSs running different parts of the site. I suspect this is one reason for the high mobile use of the site - it is fast on these devices.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

I am departing from my usual posts about technology, to share a remarkable discovery.

For years I have been skeptical about the claims of homeopathy - that minute amounts of a substance can have therapeutic properties. In the last few weeks I have changed my mind after finding proof that anyone can try for themselves. And the discovery was made completely by chance!

Everyone knows that a hot water bottle (HWB) gets cold at a certain (fixed) rate. The rate is dependent on the amount of bedding and any other factors which determine heat-loss. One night I recycled the cold water from the night before, and a family member commented that the HWB was still warm in the morning. This seemed odd, so I investigated further.

What I found is that the rate of heat loss can be altered using homeopathic techniques. Here is how.

On the first night make the water for your bottle with 400mL of cold tap-water and 800 mL of boiling water. This mix gives a temperature which is safe - hotter than this can cause the bottle to perish more quickly and leak. Extensive scientific testing has also found this temperature to about right for certain family members.

On the second night use 400mL of cold water taken from the bottle, adding 800 mL of fresh boiling water. Repeat each night for a week.

You will find each night the HWB retains it heat better. The effect seems to flatten out after a week.

The only explanation I have for this is that the recycled cold water carries the memory of being hot, and for some reason, when exposed to fresh hot water, prefers to stay hot.